Mystic Folk Opera began as the expressive love-child of singer/songwriters Kristin DiCara and Nathan McClellan, but has evolved over the course of two years into a progressive pop rock explosion with the inclusion of bassist Robert Mills and Rich Cantz on drums.

MFO boasts a broad collection of musical relationships and credits between them. Nathan having worked with producer Paul Sabu [David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Motels] as lead-guitarist for SoCal heavies Joey Bitchen; Kristin and Nathan from their early days in Denver as Kismet Calls with composer/producer Derek Whitacre [Incubus, Ben Folds Five, The Mars Volta, The Moscow Coup Attempt]; onward to the more pragmatic employment of Robert Mills as a hired gun for the Kelly Parker Band, “The Project” or The Hurricanes…And then there’s Rich, who’s dignified NY clubs as groove-maker since the tender age of 14 and has siblings that have at various times been in The Cowboy Junkies, Over The Rhine and Skinless.

Mystic Folk Opera is what happens when good musicians find each other. It doesn’t matter who’s in the room, the song will reign supreme. They cannot feign interest in roots that don’t belong to them. They are children of an age when rock expressed itself as tenderly or as rowdy as needed.

While they are certainly aware of its lineage, they know from whence they came and why they continue; which in turn stands on its own sonic grounds. Is it the Swell Season or Floyd? Doves or Rush? Fleetwood Mac or Wintersleep? Since when does Karen Carpenter go on a rampage or harmonize with Chris Cornell? And when did they enlist Yes as a backup band? Indeed, it’s all there and yet you can barely identify any of it.